Enter the world of Massimo Scognamiglio on the day that every Italian in the world will be glued to their television screens watching Italy take on Germany except for Massimo who will be walking around the streets of Rome. Massimo much like the late great David Bowie is always experimenting, creating using various media. Here is an interview with Massimo and an insight into the world of this talented photographer. Check out Massimo’s studio website, and his magazine The Magazine Of Everything.

1. What do you consider yourself : Artist or photographer?

I’m a “visual mind” constantly experimenting and ranging between art and photography.
I always confront myself with analog, instant and digital photography, and mixing them together I have distilled quite a remarkable challenge for myself.

2 . How did you start?
I grow up with my grand father’s Leica rangefinder in my hands. Studying cinema allowed me to look at the world from many different perspectives. Working as creative director of some of the most important Italian communication agencies, I have always held the world of cinema & photography as the “base language” of the communication.

3. You are always creating new projects what are some future projects?
A lot of projects!
First of all: I created with the artist Massimo Buccilli a duo the paint as one artist: we are preparing a Solo Exhibition as painter in a huge and amazing building in the historic center of Rome (mid October).
I’m preparing a performance and a photo-exhibition in Paris with my project “Rebirth”: people photographed as they are frozen between life and death. One more thing: Gothic Angels, kids photographed as a dark angels or punk stars.

4. What inspired you to do your current project?
Human body, I love the flesh, I love the humanity that flows from the veins of a living body.
And I’m inspired by my wife, a beautiful woman & extraordinary and visionary stylist and art director.

5. Are you going to watch Italy v Germany today if so where?
Of course no! But not because I’m a snob person but because I love to walk around when the city seems empty of people, like in a post atomic scenario.

6. Your favorite spot in Rome?
Every single streets, walking or cycling, if you want to try to understand this city just walk after a rainstorm, under the amazing light of the breathtaking Rome.

My friend German Michelin-starred chef Oliver Glowig can create magic in the kitchen. Today the game day of Germany versus Italy the chef may want to change his Facebook status to complicated, as he is married to an Italian.

Here is a short film I made with the chef a few years ago in the kitchen of TOCA restaurant at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto.

As Italy plays Spain in Euro Cup 2016 it is time to meet a very talented artist, film maker, photographer from Italy Sebastiano Vitale. Sebastiano has many project such as his The Raw Horse which has toured the world and his epic project Cocoland. I recently introduced Sebastiano to Canadian singer Hill Kourkoutis as they were both in New York City and asked if he may capture Hill rocking out. Here it is as well an interview in Italian and check out his film project for which Seb has great designs. Viva Italia, Italia, Italia is what Sebastiano is saying somewhere watching his Italian football team in Euro Cup 2016.

I want to share this award with all the first nation’s people represented in this film and all the indigenous communities around the world. It is time that we recognize your history. – Leonardo DiCaprio

The indigenous communities of the world, respected nature their lives depended on it. The feared it, used what the earth provided as wisely as they could. The Mayan civilization of Belize where Leonardo DiCaprio has an island vanished from the face of the earth before the arrival of the Europeans and some feel it is because of climate change. In Belize you have the second largest coral reef in the world, and it’s one hundred percent a living reef as opposed to the Australian Great Barrier Reef .

Planet Earth is blue, and there’s nothing I can do – David Bowie / Space Oddity

David Bowie sang the words above in ‘Space Oddity’ and while he is no longer with us on earth he is probably looking down at planet earth, while floating around the moon seeing the sorry state of this planet and wondering, what can I do? Well Bowie need not worry because of people like the Pope, and Leonardo DiCaprio who are telling companies, leaders of nations take note and change your ways. Enough is enough. Global warming, affects us all. If you have children you want them to have a full life so we must restore the balance.

The private audience was a meeting of two people who are on the same page, and both on the mission to seek solutions and help to change. DiCaprio through his foundations investments in new studies and programs and the Pope through his ‘word’ from the seat of Saint Peter. We must also involve the youth of this world. We can do this by creating a school of nature, for all the children of this world to come to experience the beauty of nature, forests, rain-forest, jungle, fish, coral reef, the ocean, and the animals and how there ebb and flow. They would soon learn that without one element in this ebb and flow of nature the chain is broken and thus we could all perish. The ideal place for such a school of nature (kinda like the school of rock) is where DiCaprio already owns an island. If you follow the travels of some of the birds, and turtles from the mainland to the island and their feeding habits you come to see (‘the ebb and flow’). What a wonderful gift to give any child the opportunity to find themselves among the ‘sounds and vision of nature’ empowering them with knowledge, so no one can pull wool over their eyes, especially governments, oil, gas and mining companies. This is our future the young, your children.

The youth must be engaged, they thorough their own experience at the school of nature will impart their findings using social media and this will keep the subject front and center, while educating them on the importance of nature and our planet. The Pope today reaches out to billions with the use of his social media, and the internet was created to be used to spread the word, break barriers, and bring about change, tweet, Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat, text, YouTube their vision of ‘enough is enough’. So let’s change the game and collectively with the Pope, and Leonardo DiCaprio make and everlasting positive impact for all human kind.

Many of my friends have already told me, ‘to count them in’. The question to the readers is, are you in?